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The Role Enron Energy Service, Inc., (Eesi) Played in the Manipulation of Western State Electricity Markets

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The Role Enron Energy Service, Inc., (Eesi) Played in the Manipulation of Western State Electricity Markets S. HRG. 107–1139 THE ROLE ENRON ENERGY SERVICE, INC., (EESI) PLAYED IN THE MANIPULATION OF WESTERN STATE ELECTRICITY MARKETS HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 18, 2002 Printed for the use of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 83–978 PDF WASHINGTON : 2005 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:07 Sep 26, 2005 Jkt 083978 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83978.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF SENATE COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION ERNEST F. HOLLINGS, South Carolina, Chairman DANIEL K. INOUYE, Hawaii JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia TED STEVENS, Alaska JOHN F. KERRY, Massachusetts CONRAD BURNS, Montana JOHN B. BREAUX, Louisiana TRENT LOTT, Mississippi BYRON L. DORGAN, North Dakota KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas RON WYDEN, Oregon OLYMPIA J. SNOWE, Maine MAX CLELAND, Georgia SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas BARBARA BOXER, California GORDON SMITH, Oregon JOHN EDWARDS, North Carolina PETER G. FITZGERALD, Illinois JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada BILL NELSON, Florida GEORGE ALLEN, Virginia KEVIN D. KAYES, Democratic Staff Director MOSES BOYD, Democratic Chief Counsel JEANNE BUMPUS, Republican Staff Director and General Counsel (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:07 Sep 26, 2005 Jkt 083978 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83978.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on July 18, 2002 ............................................................................... 1 Statement of Senator Boxer .................................................................................... 4 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 Prepared statement and letter of Elisa Hollis ............................................... 24 Statement of Senator Breaux ................................................................................. 4 Statement of Senator Carnahan ............................................................................. 6 Statement of Senator Cleland ................................................................................. 5 Statement of Senator Dorgan ................................................................................. 1 Prepared statement of Felix G. Rohatyn, Rohatyn Associates LLC ............. 48 Statement of Senator Fitzgerald ............................................................................ 3 Statement of Senator McCain ................................................................................. 2 Statement of Senator Nelson .................................................................................. 6 Letter dated May 4, 2001, from Hon. Thomas E. White to Tom Taylor ...... 30 Statement of Senator Smith ................................................................................... 19 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 19 Statement of Senator Wyden .................................................................................. 3 WITNESSES White, Hon. Thomas E., Secretary of the Army .................................................... 7 Prepared statement and timeline .................................................................... 8 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:07 Sep 26, 2005 Jkt 083978 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83978.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:07 Sep 26, 2005 Jkt 083978 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83978.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF THE ROLE ENRON ENERGY SERVICE, INC., (EESI) PLAYED IN THE MANIPULATION OF WESTERN STATE ELECTRICITY MARKETS THURSDAY, JULY 18, 2002 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, Washington, DC. The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 11:15 a.m. in room SR–253, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Byron L. Dorgan presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. BYRON L. DORGAN, U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA Senator DORGAN. We will now begin our next hearing, which is a full Committee hearing. We will ask Secretary White, who is the sole witness. Secretary White, why don’t you have a chair at the witness table, if you would. Mr. Secretary, we appreciate very much your willingness to come to testify today before the Senate Commerce Committee. As you know, the Subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee that deals with consumer affairs and related issues has been holding a series of hearings which include hearings on Enron issues and also corporate responsibility issues. Let me say first of all that we take no pleasure in inviting you to come today, and I expect you take no pleasure in being here. You have had a long and distinguished career serving your country, and we salute you for that, but as you know, we have had hearings before the Subcommittee and the full Committee dealing with the Enron Corporation; it is my feeling, based upon what we have determined from a range of information, that there was, in fact, a culture of corruption in that corporation. You worked in an executive capacity for that company. We had, for example, most recently a hearing that dealt with the issue of California pricing for energy and, in that hearing, we heard testi- mony about schemes that were used in California for the pricing of wholesale energy, schemes that were called, among other things, Get Shorty, Fat Boy, and Death Star. In testimony at that hearing, it raised questions about how the energy pricing occurred in the State of California, and whether a division of Enron that you were involved with which retailed elec- tricity in California was involved in any way with respect to the wholesale schemes that were involved. I use the word schemes ad- visedly, because I think there is a substantial amount of evidence that there was manipulation of pricing in the California market- (1) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:07 Sep 26, 2005 Jkt 083978 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83978.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF 2 place. Was the division of Enron that you headed involved in that? Were you an enabler? Were you aware of what was going on? We want to ask a series of questions about that. In addition to that, of course, in recent days and weeks issues have been raised about accounting treatment in corporations. In some cases, accounting scams. We want to talk to you about those issues as well, and we understand that your compensation at the Enron Corporation was in some way attached to California pricing policies, wholesale and retail prices paid in California, and so we want to visit with you about that. Let me again say that I take no joy in calling people before the Subcommittee, or full Committee. Nor do my colleagues, but, in some corporations, there have been bankruptcies and restatements, and people at the top have left with a pocketful of gold while the investors and the employees have lost their jobs or their life sav- ings. On their behalf, we have to ask tough questions. On behalf of the people in California who were consumers of elec- tricity and who discovered dramatic run-ups in the price of elec- tricity and brownouts and blackouts in California, and especially in light of what we have learned in previous hearings, we have an ob- ligation to ask tough questions. It’s for the whole West Coast, not just California—I have mentioned California, but for Oregon and Washington, as well, we have an obligation to ask tough questions. If there was price manipulation, who was involved? Who is respon- sible? Who is going to own up to it? So, as a result of those hearings, Secretary White, we call you before this Committee, and we appreciate your willingness to tes- tify. Let me call on some of my colleagues for brief opening comments, after which I will ask you to take an oath, and then we will hear your statement. Let me call on the Ranking Member of the full Committee, Senator McCain. STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN MCCAIN, U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA Senator MCCAIN. Mr. Chairman, I have no opening statement. Secretary White, perhaps I should save this for an Armed Services Committee, but I see $38,000 here—the amount some 200 army personnel spent using Government charge cards to get lap-dances and other forms of entertainment at strip clubs near military bases. Now, would you agree that there has been abuse after abuse after abuse on this credit card situation. I know it is not the sub- ject of this hearing, but that is not helpful in gaining the American people’s support for the American military. I thank you for appearing here today. Secretary WHITE. I agree, by the way. Senator MCCAIN. I want to know what you are doing about it. I figured you might agree, and so I thank you. I thank the Chair- man, for holding the hearing. Senator DORGAN. The Ranking Member of the Subcommittee, Senator Fitzgerald. VerDate 0ct 09 2002 14:07 Sep 26, 2005 Jkt 083978 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\WPSHR\GPO\DOCS\83978.TXT JACK PsN: JACKF 3 STATEMENT OF HON. PETER G. FITZGERALD, U.S. SENATOR FROM ILLINOIS Senator FITZGERALD. I have no opening statement, Mr. Chair- man. Senator DORGAN. Senator Wyden. STATEMENT OF HON. RON WYDEN, U.S. SENATOR FROM OREGON Senator WYDEN.
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